Here what stood out in Chiefs' win over Lions
Chiefs turned in an impressive rebound performance
The Chiefs won in emphatic fashion on Sunday night against the Detroit Lions, emerging with a dominating 30-17 victory.
And it was a game the Chiefs needed after Week 6’s loss.
Sunday night’s victory evened the Chiefs record to 3-3 to stay a game behind the AFC West-leading Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) and Denver Broncos (4-2).
While Harrison Butker missed his third extra point of the season, the Chiefs still came out firing on all cylinders in all three phases of the game to secure the game.
“Defensively and offensively, I thought the coordinators just had great game plans,” coach Andy Reid said. “With the coaches, the assistant coaches I thought they did a nice job likewise. There were some good personnel things that went on.”
The Chiefs also bagged a quality victory against one of the NFL’s top teams.
Beating the Lions, whose record dropped to 4-2, showed the Chiefs can win against a team with a winning record when considering Kanas City’s previous two wins were against the New York Giants (2-4) and Baltimore Ravens (1-5).
Sunday night further proved the Chiefs remain capable of being one of the league’s top teams when the team plays relative mistake-free football.
Here are four areas that stood out:
DEFENSIVE GEM
Detroit entered the game averaging 34.8 points per game as the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL.
That statistic will go down after Detroit ran into a defensive buzzsaw.
The Chiefs stymied the Lions, holding Detroit to 17.8 points below the season average.
Kansas City also limited the Lions to 98 yards rushing, which was 36.8 yards below the season average.
“I thought we played great today,” linebacker Nick Bolton said. “Our d-line and DBs working together and obviously the offense went out there and put points on the board and made them one-dimensional in that aspect.
“I thought we played pretty well today.”
LOCK DOWN
The Chiefs schemed well to take away Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was limited to nine catches for 45 yards on 10 targets, averaging 5 yards per reception.
St. Brown entered the weekend averaging seven catches for 81.4 yards on 8.2 targets per game and a league-high six touchdown catches. But he didn’t come close to wrecking the game, like he’s capable of doing.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie can take most of the credit for keeping St. Brown in check.
The All-Pro cornerback often traveled whenever Brown went in motion, and the Chiefs relied on Jaylen Watson and rookie Nohl Williams as the boundary cornerbacks.
CLEAN PLAY
Almost a week after logging a head-turning 13 penalties for 109 yards in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs played clean football Sunday night.
The Chiefs were disciplined, resulting in no yellow flags, while the Lions were penalized four times for 38 yards.
“Penalties are kind of a crazy thing,” Reid said. “Sometimes they come in waves. I thought the guys – I thought the officials did a nice job, but I thought our guys did a nice job correcting some of those, you know, with a good conscious effort to put forward there. It was a positive though, really.”
Fun fact: The last time the Chiefs played a game without an accepted penalty was on Nov. 13, 2022, against the Jaguars. Kansas City won that game, 27-17.
PLUG-AND-PLAY
The Chiefs’ decision to sign tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year deal during free agency paid off.
Moore became a plug-and-play option with rookie left tackle Josh Simmons inactive because of personal reasons.
And the biggest indicator that Moore performed?
His name was barely mentioned or heard in the press box, but he certainly drew praise from his head coach.
“Jaylon, I thought did a nice job,” Reid said after the game. “He just had a baby, too, which is a great thing, last night or early this morning, however you want to put it.
“But he stepped in – Josh (Simmons) was gone for personal reasons, so for him to step in was a nice thing and I thought he did a nice job. Tribute to (offensive line coach) Andy (Heck) for rolling those guys during the week and getting that part done.”
While Simmons is the long-term answer for the Chiefs, Sunday night showed the team can rely on Moore to step up when needed.
